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Examples of moral in a Sentence

Nor did these lawyers and bankers walk about suffused with guilt. They had the moral equivalent of teflon on their soul. Church on Sunday, foreclose on Monday. —Norman Mailer, New York Review of Books, 27 Mar. 2002

The modern liberal state was premised on the notion that in the interests of political peace, government would not take sides among the differing moral claims made by religion and traditional culture. —Francis Fukuyama, Atlantic, May 1999

It was our desire for a moral world, the deep wish to assert the existence of goodness, that generated, as it continues to do, political fantasy. —Arthur Miller, Timebends, 1987

The author avoids making moral judgments.

Each story teaches an important moral lesson.

He felt that he had a moral obligation to help the poor.

We're confident she has the moral fiber to make the right decision.

Their behavior was not moral.

Animals are not moral creatures and are not responsible for their actions.

Recent Examples of moral from the Web

San Francisco officials were well aware that the brothels of Chinatown were a moral outrage.

Whereas other filmmakers have used split screens to convey a multitude of perspectives, Morris just presents multiple versions of the same one, cluttering the frames to suggest a moral complexity that isn't necessarily there.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'moral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Ethics vs Morals: Is there a difference?

Ethics and morals are both used in the plural and are often regarded as synonyms, but there is some distinction in how they are used.

Morals often describes one's particular values concerning what is right and what is wrong:

It would go against my morals to help you cheat on the test.

He appears to view himself as a kind of culture warrior, striking out against the crumbling morals of modern society.
Jonathan Goldsbie, Now Toronto, 16 Oct. 2014

While ethics can refer broadly to moral principles, one often sees it applied to questions of correct behavior within a relatively narrow area of activity:

Our class had a debate over the ethics of genetic testing.

Anybody, it seemed, could make the music -- if they couldn't play guitar, they could push a button
-- and nobody worried about the ethics of appropriating riffs.
Jennifer Foote, Newsweek, 23 July 1990

In addition, morals usually connotes an element of subjective preference, while ethics tends to suggest aspects of universal fairness and the question of whether or not an action is responsible:

Perhaps you don’t like Kim Kardashian, or her family, or her morals don’t align with yours, or you just think it’s weird that she might have had some plastic surgery, likes to apply makeup in a really complicated way and named her kid “Saint.”
Sarah Boboltz, The Huffington Post, 12 Oct. 2016

The Frenches, both professors in The Media School, focused on the ethics of making medical decisions for a child who could not express her own wishes yet…
Chris Mura, Indiana Daily Student, 18 Oct. 2016

Thelma’s seizures have no neurological basis, and her father seems like a man of faith who prescribes to the generic playbook (ask God for forgiveness, maintain morals, etc.) while being willing to stretch it slightly for his daughter.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'moral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.